Short of going to an actual museum during the Miami fairs, the Rubell Family Collection continues to offer by far the best alternative to the business buzz permeating the fairs. The two-floor building dedicated to exclusively exhibiting works from the couple’s collection is refreshingly absent of booths, laptops and fancy orchids; its towering white walls and high quality work create a beautiful contemplative viewing environment.

Like a lot shows the Rubells mount, 30 Americans doesn’t present any rosy pictures or wallow in the brighter side of humanity. Made up of work by 31 African American artists — many of the works were acquired within the last three years (one so recently the exhibition title is now factually misleading) — the themes in this exhibition typically, though not always, centre on problems of race and representation. Beyond this however, there is no curatorial thread that leads a viewer from one room to the other, except for certain formal resonances between works.

It took a minute to remember where that quote is from. Sojourner Truth sold her daguerretype portrait when she did reading and some of them included the phrase, “I sell the shadow to support the substance”. But she wrote support, not sustain like in Ligon’s piece. Sustain certainly sounds better, but I wonder if there was any other reason for the change.

It took a minute to remember where that quote is from. Sojourner Truth sold her daguerretype portrait when she did reading and some of them included the phrase, “I sell the shadow to support the substance”. But she wrote support, not sustain like in Ligon’s piece. Sustain certainly sounds better, but I wonder if there was any other reason for the change.

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Ligon feels a little defensive here. There’s a nice interview in some anthology somewhere where he goes into the politics of doing shows like this. It’s worth reading if you can find it.